share

Books et al.Gerontology

In search of an aging antidote

Brian K. Kennedy

Borrowed Time: The Science of How and Why We AgeSue Armstrong Bloomsbury, 2019. 272 pp.

The reviewer is at the Departments of Biochemistry and Physiology, National University of Singapore; Centre for Healthy Ageing, National University Health System, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, A*STAR, Singapore; and Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, California, USA.

The reviewer is at the Departments of Biochemistry and Physiology, National University of Singapore; Centre for Healthy Ageing, National University Health System, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, A*STAR, Singapore; and Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, California, USA.

Summary

What causes aging, and how do we intervene? In Borrowed Time, Sue Armstrong describes proposed hallmarks of aging—which include accumulation of cellular damage, loss of stem cell function, cellular senescence, and others—and makes a cogent case for the role of each in driving age-associated dysfunction. Along the way, she describes the origins and development of the aging research field.